Are you being ragged in your college? Here’s how to report it anonymously

The menace of ragging has claimed many innocent lives in India. While a blanket ban by the UGC targeted ragging in 2009, it continues to be practiced in colleges and universities across the country.

( Representative Image )&nbsp | &nbspPhoto Credit:&nbspBCCL

New Delhi: Ragging used to be a ‘so-called ritual’ involving freshmen and final year students of the college. It was meant to break the ice between juniors and seniors which over time turned into abuse, harassment, humiliation, and torture. Seniors started taking pleasure in subjecting new-comers and junior students to psychological as well as physical torture.

Ragging was a frequent practice until 2009. In 2009, UGC – University Grants Commission imposed a blanket ban on it. Moreover, it also launched a toll-free anti-ragging helpline to curb the menace. The Anti-ragging helpline started working in June 2009. The aim of the helpline was to cure the distress among students because of intolerable pressure by seniors.

The anti-ragging helpline contains a 24-hour call line. The call line is toll-free as well as available 24 hours, all seven days of the week. UGC understood the importance of keeping the identity of the complainant under wraps by realising that many ragging deaths in India occurred just because the identity of the complainer was made public. For instance, the death of Aman Kachroo occurred because his seniors allegedly got to know that he had filed a complaint.

After the launch of the helpline, it received many calls within a short span. However, only a handful of calls translated into police complaints. In their defense, officials said that most of the calls were bogus in nature. Many students called just to know if the helpline worked or not. Those with genuine issues at times changed their minds midway, deciding not to file a complaint. Other calls were generally made with inquisitive sentiments.